After advocacy, Tunisian sees end of cruel punishment

The
government's cruel treatment of Tunisian journalist Abdallah Zouari came to an
end on August 1, a reminder that even the most autocratic regimes will yield to
international pressure for press freedom. Zouari, a former reporter
for the now-defunct Islamic weekly Al-Fajr, had been forced to
live under a form of house arrest since his release from prison in 2002
following an 11-year term. Living under what was called "administrative control," Zouari was subjected to strict
police surveillance and forced to reside in the suburbs of the southern city of
Zarzis, hundreds
of miles from his family. No more.

The
banishment, which was punctuated over the past years by police harassment, came
to an end shortly after CPJ Executive Director Joel
Simon raised the injustice in
a letter to President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. It was the second CPJ letter in
four months to protest reprisals against critical journalists and their
families. CPJ also urged Ben Ali "to take immediate and decisive action" to end
the harassment and to bring his "government's practices in line with
international standards for free expression."

In an August 21 letter, Zouari thanked CPJ for its "efforts
to end the injustice inflicted" on him during those seven years of banishment.

The CPJ decision to side with me and to back my just cause
always sharpened my determination and was like sparkling oil lamps that helped
me to see through the pitch darkness enveloping my daily life and to remind me
that the days of injustice, however long they might be, are numbered and that
there would always be people committed to just causes.

"As a token of gratitude to CPJ," Zouari said he has committed
himself "to fully perform the duty of solidarity with every journalist and
every human being whose right happened to be abused anywhere in the world."

On Saturday, Zouari paid a visit to his former Al Fajr colleague and prison-mate Hamadi
Jebali in Sousse, south of Tunis. Judging by the way plainclothes
police closely monitored the visit, Zouari might find ample reason to campaign
for free expression right at home.

Kamel Labidi is a freelance journalist and former CPJ representative and consultant for the Middle East and North Africa region. Labidi returned from exile to Tunisia in 2011 to head the National Commission to Reform Information and Communication. He resigned in 2012 to protest the lack of political will of the Islamist-led government to implement the commission’s recommendations.